January 8, 2014

Activities to keep from going stir-crazy

I was really hoping that today would be the day to venture out, but the roads are still terrible, so we had another day at home. The temp was up to 16 today, but the ice obviously isn't melting. We did go for a walk to the mailbox (a quarter mile away), so that was about as interesting as our day got. But I'm so sick of my house, I'll take it!

Today was a rest day, but I was feeling really antsy this morning. I didn't run, but decided to torture myself with a Jillian Michaels DVD. I've only attempted her DVD's a couple of times before, and they nearly made me cry, so they've been collecting dust for a long time. But I got out the Ripped in 30 DVD, put on some workout clothes, and gave it my all.

The hardest part for me was the push-ups. I can only do seven push-ups max, so I had to modify by doing the push-ups on my knees instead of my toes. Even that was hard! My legs were still sore from the lunges I did a couple of days ago, so that didn't make it any easier. But I survived. It was kind of fun to do something different, and it was definitely a great workout.

I was so disappointed when I looked at my Wii U Fit Meter to see how many steps I'd accumulated. I noticed that the Mii on the meter looked like a boy, and then I realized that I'd been wearing Jerry's meter the entire time! So I was racking up a whole bunch of steps for him, while my meter sat on my dresser. I guess I can be grateful that I didn't do a 12-mile run or something ;)

I'm surprised at how much it takes to get in the recommended 10,000 steps per day. Even on the days that I run, I have to move a LOT to get to 10,000. I've found the step counter on the Fit Meter to be very accurate, but the distance is not at all accurate when I run. That's because you can't calibrate the stride length; it just uses an average stride. When I run, my stride lengthens quite a bit from my typical walking stride, so the distance shown on my Fit Meter is always much shorter than I actually moved. Regardless, it's been a fun little gadget to use, and I've been trying to get in more steps wherever I can.

Jerry is crushing me on the altitude challenge, though, because he goes up and down stairs all day at work. We don't have any stairs at our house, and my running routes are completely pancake-flat. It's kind of pathetic how far behind I am!

I'm only at 725 feet (the challenge started Dec. 18th), and Jerry is at least three times that far. Mine would actually be a lot less if I hadn't taken the stairs at the hospital when I visited Mark.

I wanted to take Eli out for a birthday dinner today, and he was too impatient to wait another day or two, but I felt like it was too dangerous to take the kids out on the roads when they are solid sheets of ice. So we compromised and ordered pizza, which Jerry went to pick up. Eli was very happy with that.

The kids' school is already canceled for tomorrow, due to the poor condition of the roads. This has turned into a SUPER long Christmas break! The kids are thrilled, of course, and I'm happy that I don't have to worry about them getting there safely. But I'm definitely ready for some warmer days to melt this ice.

I only posted those to show what a week of Simply Filling was like, but I'm really loving NOT logging my food each day. This year, I really want to focus on eating "normally" and ditching the binge eating for good, so I'm working on that now.

Hi, Katie! I found you via Pinterest, and I just wanted to say thank you for being so open and honest in your writing. I am currently on my own weight loss journey through my health insurance (they've assigned me a health coach due to my weight). I've struggled with weight and body image for years, and your post about binge-eating really spoke to me. While I think I identify more with "over indulgers," It's still a problem that I need to sort out in my mind and heart. One of my goals is to graduate from my weight loss program by May AND fit back into my wedding dress. :) Thanks for being such a great inspiration!

I wear a FitBit and never go to bed without 10K steps logged. It is a challenge for sure, but I love that it makes me keep moving. I'm home all day too, and it is too easy to be completely sedentary w/o it. I just treated myself to Jillian Michaels' Body Revolution (her 90 day program). She sure is tough, but she gets results. Love that wicked witch! ;)

I think it's kinda funny that I had 2 summers in Abu Dhabi where it was too HOT to go outside for very long with my two little girls, and now you are in the reverse situation. We ended up doing a bunch of homemade crafty stuff: Puppets, playdough, writing letters to family members, trying new recipes, etc. I even got so desperate that i taught them to sew (just straight lines) and made simple tie quilts. Good luck-- hope you get unfrozen soon. It's actually quite sunny and nice here in England! (you can hate me for that last one-- it's OK). :)

The roads around here have been awful! And I know closer to Ohio they are even worse! My husband was supposed to work outside Toledo yesterday and couldn't because I-75 was closed at the Ohio border.I can't stand the Jillian Michaels dvds. Good for you for doing one even though they scare you. Push ups are tough but a great workout!

I got my mom a Nike Fuel Band for Christmas, to try to encourage her to be more active, and even though she's pretty active for a woman her age she says she has yet to meet more than half of her "goal" for the day. 10,000 steps is hard in this day and age! No wonder we have a fitness problem as a country - probably 100 years ago you met that by walking into town, doing chores outdoors, etc. I live in a city and walk all the time, and when I was wearing my FitBit the only time I ever hit the 10,000 was on days when I ran AND was on my feet walking around all day at work.

I was wondering, is it too late to send Mark a card? I missed the initial push, but would love to send him something if you're still collecting from the PO Box.

I'd love to hear from you! I read all of my comments, and if you have a question, I do my best to respond; sometimes, however, I get busy and forget to go back to reply, so if it's important, just email me! :) (I had to turn on comment moderation due to a ton of spam comments; but I will approve your comment asap!)

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